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How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

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Re: How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

#101

Post by mhd »

spion wrote: post #31
mhd wrote: post #23

If you're already a decent enough developer and just need to get your grips on JavaScript, I'd say that most books listed aren't that useful. A decent enough online reference will get you going and after that you'll have to consider that JS is a pretty large dung heap by now where you probably won't get a lot of mileage out of inhaling dust from the crusty parts. Unless you're an enterprise developer tasked with main…

I disagree with the last point. If you can make sure that the change is worth it, that you understand the new technology very well, and if you make a commitment to follow through and do all the necessary work, you wont fall into the "Duke Nukem" hole. (The problem of course is that often times we don't take the time to make the necessary evaluation and want to make a change just for the sake of learning the new shiny…

I'm talking about the beginning JS programmer. So it's quite likely that they don't understand the technology they're currently working on and thus have bigger problems evaluting the new one, as there's no good point of comparison.

Also, I hope that the first project a JS newbie does isn't a 100'000 line app, but something more bite-sized, and thus you really don't have to wait months to get to use the new stack or tool. Quite often this kind of decision making happens when the project is 80% done and you have to face a few things that aren't that easy or your code has become a bit too complicated. And yes, the new tool could solve that and you might even end up re-implementing bits and pieces of that. This might not be the most effective use of your time, but it's a good learning experience.

Re: How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

#102

Post by ahallock »

moron4hire wrote: post #9

Books are a waste of time. Most of them are garbage to begin with, and most of them are practically obsolete by the time they are published. Few have any lasting staying power. Besides, nobody ordained the author to be an authority on the subject. He was just a guy who wrote a book. It's zero indication of the quality of the content. Just write code. Practice, practice, practice.

Totally agree. Best way to learn is to write, and if you want good examples to model after, check out the popular projects on Github. People are actually using those libraries and frameworks in production, unlike the toy examples in books.

One exception is more abstract thinking -- algorithms, general design principles, etc. I think a book can be handy there sometimes.

Re: How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

#103

Post by kelvin0 »

mightybyte wrote: post #42
kelvin0 wrote: post #2

Learn Dart :)

Lol, nice. I was going to say "Learn Haskell", but I figured I'd be downvoted into oblivion. In all seriousness I am actually using that strategy and so far it seems to be working well.

Well I mentionned Dart because it is a very small step up to learn when you know Javascript. Not sure the same can be said of JS -> Haskell ... don't get me wrong I started looking into Haskell and I find it fascinating!

Re: How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

#104

Post by callum85 »

rilita wrote: post #13
LukeB_UK wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Learn how classes work in JS ( Note this is amusing to me since JS does not have classes and everything about the way they are done is just craziness compared to a real OO language ) ES6 brings classes: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Refe... - Learn what Es5, Es6, ES7 are ( good for confusing yourself and writing code that won't work cross-browser... ) Babel means you can write ES6 and ES7…

Are you kidding here? In ES6 classes provide nothing more additional than the closures already in use via a bit of extra utility code. Doubters should click the link here provided by Luke. It is filled with "To Be Determined" for all details of anything useful. Do you know what classes actually do in a real OO language, or are you just a fanboy of JS? Also, using shims or translators proves nothing. I can write in C+…

I'm using ES6 classes (and even parts of ES7) extensively in production today, and it's not nonstandard junk, and it's definitely made the language better.

Re: How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

#105

Post by mhd »

wlesieutre wrote: post #69
a3n wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This made me gag, years ago: // Statements can be terminated by ; doStuff(); // ... but they don't have to be, as semicolons are automatically inserted // wherever there's a newline, except in certain cases. doStuff() // Because those cases can cause unexpected results, we'll keep on using // semicolons in this guide.

I haven't gotten much into Javascript yet, but is there any reason I would not terminate with semicolons? Without understanding which "certain cases" won't have them inserted automatically, relying on that feels like asking for trouble.

Coming from a mostly C, Java and Perl background, I've got no personal issues with semi-colons, and often find myself adding them in languages where they're completely unnecessary, especially when switching back and forth.

Having said that, your argument could also apply to operator precedence and parentheses. Yet most languages implement this, and most users don't add them unless they're in doubt (more often with e.g. logical operators than arithmetic ones).

The rules aren't that complicated and the corner cases are (IMHO) a bit overrated. The way I see it, the more pressing reason would be the accepted JavaScript style, just like the positioning of braces.

Re: How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

#106

Post by snowwrestler »

smlacy wrote: post #90

No. Not this. Net even close to this. Let me illustrate: How to become great at Sports: - Read books about sports. - Watch other people play sports. - Read in-depth analysis of past sports games. How to become great at Playing Violin: - Read books about playing violin. - Real sheet music by the great masters. - Listen to many concerts. It's inherently obvious that the above approaches are totally and completely wrong…

There is a saying in coaching: "practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect."

What that means is that the point of practice is to reset habits to the best possible technique, so that when the athlete is under duress, they are habitually as efficient/effective as possible. Any practice done with poor technique is basically wasted time, and potentially counterproductive. This is true at any point in the athlete's development, from day one to just before the title game (or match or whatever).

So, just writing a lot of javascript will not make someone a great javascript developer. If they write a lot of crappy code, they will become an experienced, crappy developer.

The best way to achieve greatness is to have a great coach (or teacher, or mentor). That person can help one shortcut to the best technique, and they can catch and correct one when one strays from that.

But if one does not have that, then disciplined self-study of known great performers is an ok substitute.

And, when it comes to "how to become great" articles, I think the writer usually assumes that the reader is already somewhat engaged--that their target audience is already writing javascript but wants to get better at it.

Re: How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

#107

Post by lacker »

o_____________o wrote: post #94
smlacy wrote: post #90

No. Not this. Net even close to this. Let me illustrate: How to become great at Sports: - Read books about sports. - Watch other people play sports. - Read in-depth analysis of past sports games. How to become great at Playing Violin: - Read books about playing violin. - Real sheet music by the great masters. - Listen to many concerts. It's inherently obvious that the above approaches are totally and completely wrong…

Knowledge work is different. How to become great at Chess: - Read books about chess. - Watch other people play chess. - Read in-depth analysis of past chess games. How to become great at Math: - Read books about math. - Watch other people perform math. - Read in-depth analysis of math. You also skipped a key assertion from the author: "Do exercises and try to explain common JavaScript concepts such as inheritance in…

I don't think that's actually the best way to be great at chess, or math.

On chess, from a GM: "The key to their success is that they kept playing a lot, and learning from stronger opponents. Don't get me wrong: I am not suggesting stone age technologies in studying. Of course, you should take advantage of the best modern learning methods. However, the most important component of success (at least at weak GM and below level) is practice."

http://www.chess.com/article/view/getting-better-in-chess-cr...

Math is similar. You really have to do math. Reading books and watching other people do math is not the critical part.

Re: How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

#108

Post by ozataman »

o_____________o wrote: post #94
smlacy wrote: post #90

No. Not this. Net even close to this. Let me illustrate: How to become great at Sports: - Read books about sports. - Watch other people play sports. - Read in-depth analysis of past sports games. How to become great at Playing Violin: - Read books about playing violin. - Real sheet music by the great masters. - Listen to many concerts. It's inherently obvious that the above approaches are totally and completely wrong…

Knowledge work is different. How to become great at Chess: - Read books about chess. - Watch other people play chess. - Read in-depth analysis of past chess games. How to become great at Math: - Read books about math. - Watch other people perform math. - Read in-depth analysis of math. You also skipped a key assertion from the author: "Do exercises and try to explain common JavaScript concepts such as inheritance in…

Any great chess player (let's define that as near-IM fide ratings and up) will tell you that it's a highly iterative process between practice, analysis and reading that is very much anchored around practice.

They play thousands and thousands of hours and, yes, also spend quite a bit of time reading, thinking, analyzing (both their own and others') games and learning from mentors/teachers. However, practice is king and all the reading/analysis would be worthless in its absence. They would have no anchors to grab onto in your brain - no way to really become operational.

A chess "player" that mostly reads, studies and analyzes with a little bit of practice sprinkled in between would indeed be hilariously weak.

Re: How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

#109

Post by codygman »

kelvin0 wrote: post #103
mightybyte wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol, nice. I was going to say "Learn Haskell", but I figured I'd be downvoted into oblivion. In all seriousness I am actually using that strategy and so far it seems to be working well.

Well I mentionned Dart because it is a very small step up to learn when you know Javascript. Not sure the same can be said of JS -> Haskell ... don't get me wrong I started looking into Haskell and I find it fascinating!

Instead of JS -> Haskell I think I'd recommend JS -> Purescript[0][1]

0: http://www.purescript.org/

1: https://leanpub.com/purescript/read

Re: How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer

#110

Post by eanplatter »

smlacy wrote: post #90

No. Not this. Net even close to this. Let me illustrate: How to become great at Sports: - Read books about sports. - Watch other people play sports. - Read in-depth analysis of past sports games. How to become great at Playing Violin: - Read books about playing violin. - Real sheet music by the great masters. - Listen to many concerts. It's inherently obvious that the above approaches are totally and completely wrong…

Maybe I'm in a minority, but I've never read a programming book that didn't have me writing and testing out code in my console while I read.

Also, the kinds of things I tried out on my own while reading were unique and new. Not the kind of things I would necessarily run into in my job.

Doing is one thing, but if I just keep doing with my current knowledge then it's easy to fall into a situation where improvement is minuscule.

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